Gulf Cartel
Encyclopedia
The Gulf Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico
, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
, but it also has significant presence in 13 states around Mexico, with important areas of operation in the cities of Nuevo Laredo
, Miguel Alemán
, Reynosa and Matamoros
in the northern state of
Tamaulipas
; it also has important operations in the states of Nuevo León
and in Michoacán
.
Although this criminal organization smuggled alcohol in small quantities to the United States
in 1929, the epoch of the Prohibition
, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that it shifted to drug trafficking—primarily cocaine
—under the command of Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
and Juan García Ábrego
. After the apprehension of García Ábrego in 1996, a power vacuum was left and several top members fought for leadership until Osiel Cárdenas Guillén became the undisputed leader. As confrontations with rival groups heated up, Osiel Cárdenas sought and recruited over 30 deserters of the Mexican Army’s
elite Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales
(GAFE) to form part of the cartel's armed wing. Los Zetas
, as they are known, served as the hired as a private mercenary
army of the Gulf Cartel. Nevertheless, after the arrest and extradition
of Osiel Cárdenas, internal struggles led to a rupture between the two.
Osiel Cárdenas' brother, Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, a former policeman, filled in the vacuum and became the leaders of the Gulf Cartel. The death of Tony Tormenta, the nickname given to Antonio Cárdenas for his explosive behavior, allowed for Costilla Sánchez to become the sole and current leader of the organization.
, when Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
began smuggling
drugs across the border to the United States
; however, strictly speaking, it wasn’t until the 1980s
when the organization began to dedicate itself primarily to drug trafficking, under the command of Juan García Ábrego
. The origins of the cartel are accredited to the legendary contrabandist Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who died on July 12, 2001 due to a cardiac arrest
. Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was considered a high-profile leader among several people in the community of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
because he would help the neediest and would punish those who committed any abuse to the poor families. Poor people sometimes even made huge lines in ‘Piedras Negras,’ a restaurant of Nepomuceno Guerra, to ask him for favors.
Although it was never proven that he smuggled liquor, arms, tobacco, and even drugs, Juan is considered the "godfather
" of the Gulf Cartel. Along with his two brothers Arturo and Roberto, Juan Nepomuceno Guerra started smuggling alcohol into the United States in 1929. Soon after the conclusion of the Prohibition
, “Don Juan,” as he was widely known, dedicated himself to another completely different illicit occupation—drug trafficking. Nepomuceno Guerra also amplified his ascendancy through the incorporation of gambling houses
, prostitution
, human trafficking
, and car theft. His nephew, Juan García Ábrego
, worked along his tutelage, and slowly began taking over the drug business in the 1970s.
By the 1980s, García Ábrego began incorporating cocaine into the drug trafficking operations, and started to have the upper hand on what was now considered the Gulf Cartel, the greatest criminal dynasty in the US-Mexico border. By negotiating with the Cali Cartel
, García Ábrego was able to secure 50% of the shipment out of Colombia
as payment for delivery, instead of the $1,500 USD per kilo they were previously receiving. This renegotiation, however, forced Garcia Ábrego to guarantee the product’s arrival from Colombia to its destination. Instead, he created warehouses along the Mexican’s northern border to preserve hundreds of tons of cocaine
; this allowed him to create a new distribution network and increase his political influence. In addition to trafficking drugs, García Ábrego would ship cash to be laundered, in the millions.
Juan García Ábrego
's business had grown to such length that the FBI placed him on the Top Ten Most Wanted in 1995
. He was the first drug trafficker to be on that list. On January 14, 1996, García Ábrego was arrested outside a ranch in Monterrey, Nuevo León. He was quickly extradited to the United States where he stood trial eight months after his arrest. García Ábrego was convicted for 22 counts of money laundering
, drug possession
and drug trafficking. Jurors also ordered the seizure
of $350 million of García Ábrego’s assets — $75 million more than what was previously planned. Juan García Ábrego is currently serving 11 life terms in a maximum security prison
in Colorado, U.S.
, Tamaulipas
and imprisoned in 'La Palma.' After Medina Garza's arrest, his cousin Adalberto Garza Dragustinovis was investigated for allegedly forming part of the Gulf Cartel and for laundering money, but the case is still open. The next in line was Sergio "El Checo" Gómez, however, his leadership was short lived when he was assassinated in April 1996 in Valle Hermoso
, Tamaulipas
. After this, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén took control of the cartel in July 1999 after assasinating Salvador Gómez Herrera alias El Chava, co-leader of the Gulf Cartel and close friend of him, earning his name as the Mata Amigos (Friend Killer).
took full control of the Gulf Cartel in 1999, he found himself in a no-holds-barred fight to keep his notorious organization and leadership untouched, and sought out members of the Mexican Army Special Forces
to become the military armed-wing of the Gulf Cartel. His goal was to protect himself from rival drug cartels and from the Mexican military, in order to perform vital functions as the leader of the most powerful drug cartel
in Mexico
. His top recruit, Arturo Guzmán Decena
, brought more than 30 army deserters to form Cárdenas’ new paramilitary wing, Los Zetas
. Among the original defectors were Jaime González Durán
, Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar
, Miguel Treviño Morales
, and Heriberto Lazcano, now the supreme leader of Los Zetas
. The creation of Los Zetas brought a new era of drug trafficking in Mexico, and little did Cárdenas know that he was creating the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico.
As years passed, the role of Los Zetas became much more important for the Gulf Cartel; they began to organize kidnappings, impose “taxes” and operate protection rackets
, control the extortion
business, and protecting the drug routes as sicarios, often executing their rivals with grotesque savagery. In response to the rising power of the Gulf Cartel, the rival Sinaloa Cartel
established a heavily armed, well-trained enforcer group known as Los Negros
. The group operated similar to Los Zetas, but with less complexity and success. The death of Arturo Guzman Decena
(2002), and the capture of Rogelio González Pizaña (2004), the second-in-line, marked the opportunity for Heriberto Lazcano to take charge of Los Zetas.
, by the FBI and DEA
. According to the story mentioned in the interviews 11 years after this life-or-death incident, the DEA
agent Joe DuBois and FBI agent Daniel Fuentes were riding in a white Ford Bronco with diplomatic plates along the streets of Matamoros
, Tamaulipas
. For years, both were working for the disarticulation of the cartels in Mexico, and both knew how the drug cartels worked south of the border. In the back seat of the car, a Mexican informant from a local newspaper on crime coverage guided the two agents and gave them a tour on the city's drug routes and on the homes of the drug lords of the city. They even cruised on Cárdenas' house, a pink-colored mansion with tall walls, security camaras, armed guards and roof-snipers. Within moments, according to DuBois, a Lincoln Continental
was on their tail, then a stolen pickup truck with Texan plates. The federal agents were cutt off and surrounded by at least five vehicles, including one by a former state police officer. Just yards away from Matamoros' police department, the agents were surrounded by a convoy of gunmen from the Gulf Cartel. Some wore police and military uniforms. Nearby, other men, also in police uniform, directed traffic.
Cárdenas and his men intercepted and surrounded the vehicle on a public street and demanded for the informant to be released to him. According to the two agents, the Gulf Cartel sicarios outnumbered and outgunned them. Their only way out was to talk their way out. Cárdenas arrived seconds later in a white Jeep Cherokee
, approaching the two agents with the swagger of the man in charge. In his waistband, he wore a Colt pistol with a gold grip; in his hands, a gold-plated AK-47
. Cárdenas pounded the Ford Bronco and calmly asked for the informant. Fuentes flashed his FBI badge, giving Cárdenas a smile. In an ongoing discourse, Cárdenas told the agents that he would shoot them if they did not surrender. The two agents refused to do so, saying they were dead either way. He gave them another choice: to hand over the informant. Again, they refused.
DuBois, who grew up in Mexico
and was a police officer
in the neighboring Brownsville
, Texas
, recalled how Cárdenas "did not give a damn who [they were]," while DuBois replied to him: "You don't care now, but tomorrow and the next day and the rest of your life, you'll regret anything stupid that you might do right now. You are fixing to make 300,000 enemies." Then, Fuentes reminded Cárdenas how the U.S.
launched a massive manhunt and investigation after the kidnap, torture
, and assassination
of the DEA
agent Enrique Camarena
in 1985 in Mexico. All of the killers and accomplices were captured in that U.S. operation.
After a tense standoff
, DuBois and Fuentes, along with their informant, were released. The two agents and the informant headed off to Brownsville, Texas
. As for Cárdenas, the damage had been done by taking on the U.S. government, which placed pressure on the Mexican government to apprehend Cárdenas. The two agents, Joe DuBois and Daniel Fuentes, were recognized by the U.S. attorney general for their 'exceptional heroism,' and both are still on the job. The Mexican reporter is living somewhere in the United States.
, on March 14, 2003 in a shootout between the Mexican military and Gulf Cartel gunmen. He was one of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
, which was offering $2 million for his capture. According to government archives, this six-month military operation was planned and carried out in secret; the only people informed were the President Vicente Fox
, the Secretary of Defense in Mexico, Ricardo Clemente Vega García, and Mexico's Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha. After his capture, Osiel Cárdenas was sent to the federal, high-security prison La Palma. However, it was believed that Cárdenas still controlled the Gulf Cartel from prison, and was later extradicted to the United States, where he was sentenced to 25 years in a prison in Houston, Texas
for money laundering
, drug trafficking, homicide
and death threats to U.S. federal agents.
After the arrest and extradition, top lieutenants from both the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas began to dispute important drug corridor
s to the United States
—Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Tampico in Tamaulipas
; Acapulco, Guerrero; Cancún, Quintana Roo; Monterrey, Nuevo León; Veracruz and San Luis Potosí. Through his violence and intimidation, Heriberto Lazcano took control of both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel after Cardenas’ extradition. Lieutenants that were once loyal to Cárdenas began following the commands of Lazcano, who tried to reorganize the cartel by appointing several lieutenants to control specific territories. Morales Treviño
was appointed to look over Nuevo León
; Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez in Matamoros
; Héctor Manuel Sauceda Gamboa ‘El Karis' took control of Nuevo Laredo
; Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, known as ‘El Goyo,’ along with his brother Arturo, took control of the Reynosa
‘plaza’; Arturo Basurto Peña, alias ‘El Grande,’ and Iván Velásquez Caballero ‘El Talibán’ took control of Quintana Roo
and Guerrero
; Alberto Sánchez Hinojosa, alias 'Comandante Castillo,' took over Tabasco
. However, continual disagreement was leading the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas into an inevitable rupture.
, Los Zetas had become so powerful that they outnumbered and outclassed the Gulf Cartel in revenue, membership, and influence. Some sources reveal that as a result of the supremacy of Los Zetas
, the Gulf Cartel felt threatened by the growing force of their own enforcer group that they decided to stop their influence, but eventually failed in their attempted, instigating a war. In addition, from the perspective presented by the Gulf Cartel, the narco-banners placed by them in the cities of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
and Reynosa, Tamaulipas explaining that the reason for their rupture was because Los Zetas
had also expanded their supremacy not only by drug trafficking, but through extreme violence, extortions, kidnappings, homicides, and theft, and that Gulf Cartel disagreed with that.
Nevertheless, other sources also reveal that Tony Tormenta, brother of Osiel Cardenas
and one of the successors of the Gulf Cartel, had an addiction to gambling, sex, and drugs, which led Los Zetas
to consider his leadership as a threat to the organization. Other reports mention, however, that the rupture occurred due to a disagreement on who would take on the leadership of the cartel after the extradition of Cardenas
. The candidates of the Gulf Cartel were Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, while Los Zetas wanted the leadership of their current head, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
. Other sources, however, mention that the Gulf Cartel began looking to form a truce with their Sinaloa Cartel
rivals, and Los Zetas did not want to recognize the treaty settlement, which led them to act independently and eventually break apart. On the other hand, other sources reveal that Los Zetas
separated from the Gulf Cartel to form an alliance with Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
, which led to conflict between them. Other sources mention that what initiated the conflict between them was when Samuel Flores Borrego, alias El Metro 3, lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel, killed Sergio Peña Mendoza, alias El Concorde 3, lieutenant of Los Zetas, due to a disagreement for the drug corridor of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, whom both protected. Soon after his death, Los Zetas
demanded for the Gulf Cartel to hand over the killer, but they didn't, and observers believe that triggered the war.
Whatever the actual reasons were, the truth is that after continuous disagreement, Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas began to separate in 2008, and their official rupture was announced in 2010. Since then, a bloody turf war between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel is still an ongoing armed conflict
in Mexico
, and has left thousands of deaths along the way.
. Government sources claimed that this operation—where more than 660 marines, 17 vehicles, and 3 helicopters participated—left 8 dead: three marines, one soldier, and four gunmen, including Antonio Cárdenas Guillén. Other sources mention that one news reporter was also killed in the crossfire. This military-led operation was a result of a work of more than six months of intelligence work and some operational actions.
The confrontations started around 10:00AM, and extended to 06:00PM, around the time Cárdenas Guilén was killed. The intense shootings provoked the temporary closure of three international bridges in Matamoros, along with the University of Texas at Brownsville, just across the border. Public transportation and school classes in Matamoros were canceled, along with the suspension of activities throughout the municipality
, since the criminal groups hijacked the units of public transport and made dozens of roadblocks to prevent the mobilization of the soldiers, marines, and federal police forces. The street confrontations generated a wave of panic among the population and caused the publication and broadcast of messages through social networks like Twitter
and Facebook
, reporting the clashes between authorities and criminals. When the Mexican authorities reached the spot where Tony Tormenta was present, the criminals received the soldiers and cops with grenades and high-calibre shots. Reports mention that Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén was being protected by the Los Escorpiones, or The Scorpions, the alleged armed wing of the Gulf Cartel and the personal army of Ezekiel, who were serving as snipers and bodyguards for him. And even after the drug lord was killed, the roadblocks continued throughout the rest of the day.
Nevertheless, according to local newspapers, well over 50 gunmen died in the military operation. Although not confirmed, some online sources and witnesses claim that more than 100 people died that day in Matamoros. The death of Tony Tormenta also caused a spiral of violence in Reynosa, Tamaulipas a number of days after he was killed. Banners written by Los Zetas
, the Gulf Cartel's former armed wing, appeared all across Mexico
, celebrating the death of Cárdenas Guillén. The United States
president, Barack Obama
, called the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon
, congratulating him and the Mexican forces for the operative in Matamoros
, and reiterated his effort against organized crime.
After this incident, there was a huge division of opinions over the fate of the Gulf Cartel. Some experts believed that the death of Ezekiel would be dreadful for the Gulf Cartel, and that Los Zetas
would overthrow them and eventually take control of Tamaulipas
. Others explained how his death allowed Costilla Sánchez to take full directive of the cartel, and that that would tighten relations with Colombia
and straighten the Gulf Cartel’s path, something quite difficult with Ezekiel as co-leader.
(which until then had served as the cartel's armed wing), Los Escorpiones became the armed wing of the entire Gulf organization.
However, his brother Osiel Cárdenas Guillén disapproved the existence of this mercenary group, since he had created Los Zetas
, the parallel version of Los Escorpiones, and they had turned against the organization. El Universal
reported that Mexican authorities identified the gunmen that where engaging in confrontations the troops in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
as members of the Los Escorpiones group. Along with Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, the following members of Los Escorpiones were killed: Sergio Antonio Fuentes, alias El Tyson or Escorpión 1; Raúl Marmolejo Gómez, alias Escorpión 18; Hugo Lira, alias Escorpión 26; and Refugio Adalberto Vargas Cortes, alias Escorpión 42.
specialists have mentioned that the strong military presence in Tamaulipas
, along with the death of Samuel Flores Borrego, alias El Metro 3, and the apprehension of Rafael Cárdenas Vela, alias El Junior, has created tension and conflict within the Gulf Cartel, which is on the verge of a rupture. The two groups within the cartel—the Metros, commanded by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, and the Rojos, who maintain loyalty to the Cárdenas family
—are believed to be fighting for the full mandate of the criminal organization. After the death of Antonio Cárdenas Guillén in 2010, these two groups have been looking for leaders to fill in that void.
If a rupture occurs, experts mention that there may be an increasing mobilization from Los Zetas
to take control of the drug corridors of Matamoros
and Reynosa
, the two most important strongholds for the Gulf Cartel. In addition, it may also allow for the Sinaloa Cartel
to move into northeastern Tamaulipas.
, was the most dangerous and powerful drug cartel in Mexico
, second only by the Sinaloa Cartel
. However, the rupture with Los Zetas
complicated the Gulf Cartel’s supremacy in the country. They lost significant territory both inside and outside of Tamaulipas
, and the only definite territory that the Gulf Cartel possesses and that is not under dispute are the ‘plazas’ of Matamoros
and Reynosa
. However, they are slowly gaining ground in Tamaulipas, as the government focuses more on eradicating Los Zetas, resulting in Gulf Cartel taking advantage of the juncture to push the ‘Zeta’ forces to other states. The major cities of Nuevo Laredo
, Tampico
, and Monterrey
are currently under dispute. Smaller cities like Rio Bravo
, Miguel Alemán
, and Valle Hermoso
hold strongholds of both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Cities like Ciudad Victoria
, Nuevo Laredo
, Monterrey
, Soto La Marina
, and San Fernando
, are considered ‘Zetas’ territory, in its majority. In addition, the states of San Luis Potosi
, Veracruz
, and Zacatecas
, although they have Gulf Cartel presence, are also considered ‘Zeta’ territory.
and Gulf Cartel, Benjamín Arellano Félix
and Osiel Cárdenas
, turned the war on drugs into a trilateral war. While in prison, Cárdenas and Arellano Félix formed an alliance to defend themselves from the Sinaloa
and Juarez Cartel
, who had also formed an alliance with each other, and were planning to take over the smuggling routes and territories of the Gulf and Tijuana Cartel
. After a dispute, however, Osiel Cardenas ordered Benjamin Arellano Felix beaten, and the Gulf-Tijuana alliance ceased to exist at that point. It was reported that after the fallout, Cárdenas ordered Los Zetas
to Baja California
to wipe out the Tijuana Cartel
.
The Sinaloa-Juarez alliance ceased to exist as well due to an unpaid debt in 2007, and now the Sinaloa and Juarez Cartel are at war against each other. Since February 2010, the major cartels have aligned in two factions, one integrated by the Juárez Cartel
, Tijuana Cartel
, Los Zetas
and the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel; the other faction integrated by the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel
, La Familia Cartel (now extinct) and the Knights Templar Cartel.
left Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez and Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén in full control of the Gulf Cartel. However, Ezekiel died in a shooting with the Mexican Marines in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
in 2010, and Costilla Sanchez became the sole head of the cartel. Mario Cárdenas Guillén
, brother of both Osiel and Ezekiel, became one of the top lieutenants in the organization after his release from prison in 2007. In addition, within the Gulf Cartel there is believed to be two groups—the Rojos and the Metros.
Below is basic structure of any drug cartel
:
It's worth noting that there are other operating groups within the drug cartels. For example, the drug producers and suppliers, although not considered in the basic structure, are critical operators of any drug cartel, along with the financers and money launderers. In addition, the arms suppliers operate in a completely different circle, and are technically not considered part of the cartel’s logistics.
Another venture the cartels utilize are the many bus routes across the United States. With each instance of human trafficking, they can have people carry the product with them on a bus and deliver it to its destination. Main hubs for these bus routes include but are not limited to Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and Dallas. The buses are a vital asset to the cartels because they often go without detection from devices or X-ray machines. The major highways accessed are I35 and I25 which are central highways for the drug trade. The cartel also implements the use of the train system to ship large quantities of illegal drugs.
Apart from using these common ways, once the product is across the border, common cars and trucks are utilized for faster distribution in different cities. In an effort to use the seas, the cartel also implemented the use of narco submarine
s.
announced coordinated actions against the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas
drug trafficking organizations. Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillen
, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
and 15 of their top lieutenants, have been charged in U.S. federal courts with drug trafficking-related crimes, while the U.S. State Department announced rewards totaling $50 million USD for information leading to their capture.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country. It is currently based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, but it also has significant presence in 13 states around Mexico, with important areas of operation in the cities of Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
, Miguel Alemán
Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas
Miguel Alemán, or El Carrizo, is a town located in Nuevo Laredo Municipality in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. According to the INEGI Census of 2010, Miguel Alemán had a population of 114 inhabitants. Its elevation is 136 meters above sea level....
, Reynosa and Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
in the northern state of
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
; it also has important operations in the states of Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
and in Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
.
Although this criminal organization smuggled alcohol in small quantities to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1929, the epoch of the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that it shifted to drug trafficking—primarily cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
—under the command of Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was a Mexican drug lord and smuggler who co-founded the Gulf Cartel with his nephew Juan García Ábrego. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S-Mexico border mafias.-Biography:...
and Juan García Ábrego
Juan García Abrego
Juan García Ábrego was a Mexican drug lord who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel....
. After the apprehension of García Ábrego in 1996, a power vacuum was left and several top members fought for leadership until Osiel Cárdenas Guillén became the undisputed leader. As confrontations with rival groups heated up, Osiel Cárdenas sought and recruited over 30 deserters of the Mexican Army’s
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...
elite Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales
Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales
The Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales or more commonly known as Fuerzas Especiales/Special Forces is a special forces unit of the Mexican Army's Special Forces Corps, trained by the world's special forces. There are a total of nine battalions, one High Command GAFE unit and one other group...
(GAFE) to form part of the cartel's armed wing. Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, as they are known, served as the hired as a private mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
army of the Gulf Cartel. Nevertheless, after the arrest and extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of Osiel Cárdenas, internal struggles led to a rupture between the two.
Osiel Cárdenas' brother, Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, a former policeman, filled in the vacuum and became the leaders of the Gulf Cartel. The death of Tony Tormenta, the nickname given to Antonio Cárdenas for his explosive behavior, allowed for Costilla Sánchez to become the sole and current leader of the organization.
Foundation: 1970s - 1996
The history of the Gulf Cartel dates back to the 1970s1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, when Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra
Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was a Mexican drug lord and smuggler who co-founded the Gulf Cartel with his nephew Juan García Ábrego. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S-Mexico border mafias.-Biography:...
began smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
drugs across the border to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; however, strictly speaking, it wasn’t until the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
when the organization began to dedicate itself primarily to drug trafficking, under the command of Juan García Ábrego
Juan García Abrego
Juan García Ábrego was a Mexican drug lord who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel....
. The origins of the cartel are accredited to the legendary contrabandist Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who died on July 12, 2001 due to a cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
. Juan Nepomuceno Guerra was considered a high-profile leader among several people in the community of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
because he would help the neediest and would punish those who committed any abuse to the poor families. Poor people sometimes even made huge lines in ‘Piedras Negras,’ a restaurant of Nepomuceno Guerra, to ask him for favors.
Although it was never proven that he smuggled liquor, arms, tobacco, and even drugs, Juan is considered the "godfather
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
" of the Gulf Cartel. Along with his two brothers Arturo and Roberto, Juan Nepomuceno Guerra started smuggling alcohol into the United States in 1929. Soon after the conclusion of the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, “Don Juan,” as he was widely known, dedicated himself to another completely different illicit occupation—drug trafficking. Nepomuceno Guerra also amplified his ascendancy through the incorporation of gambling houses
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, and car theft. His nephew, Juan García Ábrego
Juan García Abrego
Juan García Ábrego was a Mexican drug lord who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel....
, worked along his tutelage, and slowly began taking over the drug business in the 1970s.
By the 1980s, García Ábrego began incorporating cocaine into the drug trafficking operations, and started to have the upper hand on what was now considered the Gulf Cartel, the greatest criminal dynasty in the US-Mexico border. By negotiating with the Cali Cartel
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño...
, García Ábrego was able to secure 50% of the shipment out of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
as payment for delivery, instead of the $1,500 USD per kilo they were previously receiving. This renegotiation, however, forced Garcia Ábrego to guarantee the product’s arrival from Colombia to its destination. Instead, he created warehouses along the Mexican’s northern border to preserve hundreds of tons of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
; this allowed him to create a new distribution network and increase his political influence. In addition to trafficking drugs, García Ábrego would ship cash to be laundered, in the millions.
Juan García Ábrego
Juan García Abrego
Juan García Ábrego was a Mexican drug lord who started out his criminal career under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, who is reported to be the former head of a criminal dynasty along the U.S.-Mexico border now called the Gulf Cartel....
's business had grown to such length that the FBI placed him on the Top Ten Most Wanted in 1995
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1990s is a list, maintained for a fifth decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.-FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives to begin the 1990s:...
. He was the first drug trafficker to be on that list. On January 14, 1996, García Ábrego was arrested outside a ranch in Monterrey, Nuevo León. He was quickly extradited to the United States where he stood trial eight months after his arrest. García Ábrego was convicted for 22 counts of money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, drug possession
Drug possession
Drug possession is the crime of having one or more illegal drugs in one's possession, either for personal use, distribution, sale or otherwise. Illegal drugs fall into different categories and sentences vary depending on the amount, type of drug, circumstances, and jurisdiction.A person has...
and drug trafficking. Jurors also ordered the seizure
Seizure
An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...
of $350 million of García Ábrego’s assets — $75 million more than what was previously planned. Juan García Ábrego is currently serving 11 life terms in a maximum security prison
Maximum security prison
Maximum security prison and Supermax are grades of high security level used by prison systems in various countries.*For the United States see Incarceration in the United States#Security levels...
in Colorado, U.S.
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
Arrest of Ábrego
Following Ábrego's 1996 arrest by Mexican authorities and subsequent deportation to the United States, his brother Humberto García Ábrego tried to take the lead of the Gulf Cartel, but ultimately failed in his attempt. He did not have the leadership skills nor the support of the Colombian drug-provisioners. In addition, he was under observation and was widely known, since his surname meant more of the same. He was to be replaced by Oscar Malherbe De León and Raúl Valladares del Ángel, until their arrest a short time later, causing several cartel lieutenants to fight for the leadership. Malherbe tried to bribe officials $2 million for his release, but it was denied. Hugo Baldomero Medina Garza, known as "El Señor de los Tráilers," is considered one of the most important members in the rearticulation of the Gulf Cartel. He was one of the top officials of the cartel for more than 40 years, trafficking about 20 tons of cocaine to the United States each month. His luck ended in November 2000 when he was captured in TampicoTampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
, Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
and imprisoned in 'La Palma.' After Medina Garza's arrest, his cousin Adalberto Garza Dragustinovis was investigated for allegedly forming part of the Gulf Cartel and for laundering money, but the case is still open. The next in line was Sergio "El Checo" Gómez, however, his leadership was short lived when he was assassinated in April 1996 in Valle Hermoso
Valle Hermoso
Valle Hermoso may refer to:*Argentina: Valle Hermoso, Córdoba*Chile: Valle Hermoso, Valparaíso*Mexico: Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas...
, Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
. After this, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén took control of the cartel in July 1999 after assasinating Salvador Gómez Herrera alias El Chava, co-leader of the Gulf Cartel and close friend of him, earning his name as the Mata Amigos (Friend Killer).
Cárdenas era and Los Zetas
After Osiel CárdenasOsiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
took full control of the Gulf Cartel in 1999, he found himself in a no-holds-barred fight to keep his notorious organization and leadership untouched, and sought out members of the Mexican Army Special Forces
Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales
The Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales or more commonly known as Fuerzas Especiales/Special Forces is a special forces unit of the Mexican Army's Special Forces Corps, trained by the world's special forces. There are a total of nine battalions, one High Command GAFE unit and one other group...
to become the military armed-wing of the Gulf Cartel. His goal was to protect himself from rival drug cartels and from the Mexican military, in order to perform vital functions as the leader of the most powerful drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. His top recruit, Arturo Guzmán Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena, a.k.a.: Z-1 was a Mexican Army soldier who defected to become a mercenary and commander of the mercenary gang called Los Zetas at the service of Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, the Gulf Cartel's drug lord...
, brought more than 30 army deserters to form Cárdenas’ new paramilitary wing, Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
. Among the original defectors were Jaime González Durán
Jaime González Durán
Jaime González Durán is a Mexican drug trafficker who is one of the 31 original founding members, and he ranked third in the chain of command of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas. A former Mexican Army elite soldier of the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales , he was trained in...
, Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar
Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar
Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar was born on June 9, 1976 in Sabancuy, Campeche, Mexico He is a lieutenant of the Mexican criminal organization known as Los Zetas...
, Miguel Treviño Morales
Miguel Treviño Morales
Miguel Angel Treviño Morales is a Mexican drug trafficker who is a commander of the drug cartel known as Los Zetas, currently led by Heriberto Lazcano...
, and Heriberto Lazcano, now the supreme leader of Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
. The creation of Los Zetas brought a new era of drug trafficking in Mexico, and little did Cárdenas know that he was creating the most dangerous drug cartel in Mexico.
As years passed, the role of Los Zetas became much more important for the Gulf Cartel; they began to organize kidnappings, impose “taxes” and operate protection rackets
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
, control the extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
business, and protecting the drug routes as sicarios, often executing their rivals with grotesque savagery. In response to the rising power of the Gulf Cartel, the rival Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
established a heavily armed, well-trained enforcer group known as Los Negros
Los Negros
Los Negros was a criminal organization that was once the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and after a switch of alliances, became the armed wing of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. On 2010 it went independent and had been contesting the control of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. It was then the criminal...
. The group operated similar to Los Zetas, but with less complexity and success. The death of Arturo Guzman Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena
Arturo Guzmán Decena, a.k.a.: Z-1 was a Mexican Army soldier who defected to become a mercenary and commander of the mercenary gang called Los Zetas at the service of Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, the Gulf Cartel's drug lord...
(2002), and the capture of Rogelio González Pizaña (2004), the second-in-line, marked the opportunity for Heriberto Lazcano to take charge of Los Zetas.
Cárdenas' encounter with U.S. agents
In a November afternoon of 1999, Cárdenas learned that a Gulf Cartel informant was being transported through Matamoros, TamaulipasMatamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, by the FBI and DEA
DEA
DEA is the commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States law enforcement agency.DEA or Dea may also refer to:- Organizations :* DEA , UK development education charity...
. According to the story mentioned in the interviews 11 years after this life-or-death incident, the DEA
DEA
DEA is the commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States law enforcement agency.DEA or Dea may also refer to:- Organizations :* DEA , UK development education charity...
agent Joe DuBois and FBI agent Daniel Fuentes were riding in a white Ford Bronco with diplomatic plates along the streets of Matamoros
Matamoros
The name Matamoros, meaning Moor-killer or Moor-slayer in Spanish , may refer to:-People:*Mariano Matamoros, a liberal priest and insurgent active during the Mexican War of Independence*Santiago Matamoros The name Matamoros, meaning Moor-killer or Moor-slayer in Spanish (see Saint James the...
, Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
. For years, both were working for the disarticulation of the cartels in Mexico, and both knew how the drug cartels worked south of the border. In the back seat of the car, a Mexican informant from a local newspaper on crime coverage guided the two agents and gave them a tour on the city's drug routes and on the homes of the drug lords of the city. They even cruised on Cárdenas' house, a pink-colored mansion with tall walls, security camaras, armed guards and roof-snipers. Within moments, according to DuBois, a Lincoln Continental
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
was on their tail, then a stolen pickup truck with Texan plates. The federal agents were cutt off and surrounded by at least five vehicles, including one by a former state police officer. Just yards away from Matamoros' police department, the agents were surrounded by a convoy of gunmen from the Gulf Cartel. Some wore police and military uniforms. Nearby, other men, also in police uniform, directed traffic.
Cárdenas and his men intercepted and surrounded the vehicle on a public street and demanded for the informant to be released to him. According to the two agents, the Gulf Cartel sicarios outnumbered and outgunned them. Their only way out was to talk their way out. Cárdenas arrived seconds later in a white Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee may refer to:* Jeep Cherokee * Jeep Cherokee * Jeep Grand Cherokee , , and * Jeep Liberty, a.k.a. Jeep Cherokee...
, approaching the two agents with the swagger of the man in charge. In his waistband, he wore a Colt pistol with a gold grip; in his hands, a gold-plated AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
. Cárdenas pounded the Ford Bronco and calmly asked for the informant. Fuentes flashed his FBI badge, giving Cárdenas a smile. In an ongoing discourse, Cárdenas told the agents that he would shoot them if they did not surrender. The two agents refused to do so, saying they were dead either way. He gave them another choice: to hand over the informant. Again, they refused.
DuBois, who grew up in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and was a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
in the neighboring Brownsville
Brownsville
Brownsville may refer to:United States*Brownsville, California , the name of several places*Brownsville, Florida**Brownsville , located at the above location...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, recalled how Cárdenas "did not give a damn who [they were]," while DuBois replied to him: "You don't care now, but tomorrow and the next day and the rest of your life, you'll regret anything stupid that you might do right now. You are fixing to make 300,000 enemies." Then, Fuentes reminded Cárdenas how the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
launched a massive manhunt and investigation after the kidnap, torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, and assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of the DEA
DEA
DEA is the commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States law enforcement agency.DEA or Dea may also refer to:- Organizations :* DEA , UK development education charity...
agent Enrique Camarena
Enrique Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico July 26, 1947 - c. (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, February 9, 1985) was an undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration who was abducted on...
in 1985 in Mexico. All of the killers and accomplices were captured in that U.S. operation.
After a tense standoff
Standoff
A standoff is used in mechanics and electronics to separate two parts from one another. Standoffs can be many shapes and sizes and made of many different materials. Insulating standoffs may keep two parts from touching each other, thereby preventing an electronic short...
, DuBois and Fuentes, along with their informant, were released. The two agents and the informant headed off to Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
. As for Cárdenas, the damage had been done by taking on the U.S. government, which placed pressure on the Mexican government to apprehend Cárdenas. The two agents, Joe DuBois and Daniel Fuentes, were recognized by the U.S. attorney general for their 'exceptional heroism,' and both are still on the job. The Mexican reporter is living somewhere in the United States.
Cárdenas' arrest
The former leader of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was captured in the city of Matamoros, TamaulipasMatamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, on March 14, 2003 in a shootout between the Mexican military and Gulf Cartel gunmen. He was one of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
, which was offering $2 million for his capture. According to government archives, this six-month military operation was planned and carried out in secret; the only people informed were the President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
, the Secretary of Defense in Mexico, Ricardo Clemente Vega García, and Mexico's Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha. After his capture, Osiel Cárdenas was sent to the federal, high-security prison La Palma. However, it was believed that Cárdenas still controlled the Gulf Cartel from prison, and was later extradicted to the United States, where he was sentenced to 25 years in a prison in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
for money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, drug trafficking, homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
and death threats to U.S. federal agents.
After the arrest and extradition, top lieutenants from both the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas began to dispute important drug corridor
Drug corridor
Drug corridor is the name given to various paths in the U.S., generally being coterminal with major highways and interstates, that are major highways for the flow of illicit drugs into, out of, and across the U.S...
s to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
—Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Tampico in Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
; Acapulco, Guerrero; Cancún, Quintana Roo; Monterrey, Nuevo León; Veracruz and San Luis Potosí. Through his violence and intimidation, Heriberto Lazcano took control of both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel after Cardenas’ extradition. Lieutenants that were once loyal to Cárdenas began following the commands of Lazcano, who tried to reorganize the cartel by appointing several lieutenants to control specific territories. Morales Treviño
Miguel Treviño Morales
Miguel Angel Treviño Morales is a Mexican drug trafficker who is a commander of the drug cartel known as Los Zetas, currently led by Heriberto Lazcano...
was appointed to look over Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
; Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez in Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
; Héctor Manuel Sauceda Gamboa ‘El Karis' took control of Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
; Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, known as ‘El Goyo,’ along with his brother Arturo, took control of the Reynosa
Reynosa
Reynosa is a border city in the northern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from McAllen, Texas in the United States. As of 2010, the city of Reynosa counts with a population of 607,532...
‘plaza’; Arturo Basurto Peña, alias ‘El Grande,’ and Iván Velásquez Caballero ‘El Talibán’ took control of Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....
and Guerrero
Guerrero
Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
; Alberto Sánchez Hinojosa, alias 'Comandante Castillo,' took over Tabasco
Tabasco
Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....
. However, continual disagreement was leading the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas into an inevitable rupture.
Rupture from Los Zetas
There is huge discrepancy on whom of the two—the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas—started the conflict that led to their rupture. It is clear, however, that after the capture and extradition of Osiel CardenasOsiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
, Los Zetas had become so powerful that they outnumbered and outclassed the Gulf Cartel in revenue, membership, and influence. Some sources reveal that as a result of the supremacy of Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, the Gulf Cartel felt threatened by the growing force of their own enforcer group that they decided to stop their influence, but eventually failed in their attempted, instigating a war. In addition, from the perspective presented by the Gulf Cartel, the narco-banners placed by them in the cities of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
and Reynosa, Tamaulipas explaining that the reason for their rupture was because Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
had also expanded their supremacy not only by drug trafficking, but through extreme violence, extortions, kidnappings, homicides, and theft, and that Gulf Cartel disagreed with that.
Nevertheless, other sources also reveal that Tony Tormenta, brother of Osiel Cardenas
Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
and one of the successors of the Gulf Cartel, had an addiction to gambling, sex, and drugs, which led Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
to consider his leadership as a threat to the organization. Other reports mention, however, that the rupture occurred due to a disagreement on who would take on the leadership of the cartel after the extradition of Cardenas
Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
. The candidates of the Gulf Cartel were Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, while Los Zetas wanted the leadership of their current head, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, is a Mexican drug trafficker who heads the Mexican drug cartel known as Los Zetas.-Biography:...
. Other sources, however, mention that the Gulf Cartel began looking to form a truce with their Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
rivals, and Los Zetas did not want to recognize the treaty settlement, which led them to act independently and eventually break apart. On the other hand, other sources reveal that Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
separated from the Gulf Cartel to form an alliance with Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel was a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate founded by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor....
, which led to conflict between them. Other sources mention that what initiated the conflict between them was when Samuel Flores Borrego, alias El Metro 3, lieutenant of the Gulf Cartel, killed Sergio Peña Mendoza, alias El Concorde 3, lieutenant of Los Zetas, due to a disagreement for the drug corridor of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, whom both protected. Soon after his death, Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
demanded for the Gulf Cartel to hand over the killer, but they didn't, and observers believe that triggered the war.
Whatever the actual reasons were, the truth is that after continuous disagreement, Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas began to separate in 2008, and their official rupture was announced in 2010. Since then, a bloody turf war between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel is still an ongoing armed conflict
Mexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and has left thousands of deaths along the way.
Tony Tormenta era
Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guilén, better known as Tony Tormenta, became the co-leader of the Gulf Cartel, along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, after the extradition of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. However, Ezekiel died in a eight-hour shooting with the Mexican government forces on November 5, 2010 in the border city of Matamoros, TamaulipasMatamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
. Government sources claimed that this operation—where more than 660 marines, 17 vehicles, and 3 helicopters participated—left 8 dead: three marines, one soldier, and four gunmen, including Antonio Cárdenas Guillén. Other sources mention that one news reporter was also killed in the crossfire. This military-led operation was a result of a work of more than six months of intelligence work and some operational actions.
The confrontations started around 10:00AM, and extended to 06:00PM, around the time Cárdenas Guilén was killed. The intense shootings provoked the temporary closure of three international bridges in Matamoros, along with the University of Texas at Brownsville, just across the border. Public transportation and school classes in Matamoros were canceled, along with the suspension of activities throughout the municipality
Matamoros municipality, Tamaulipas
Matamoros is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.-Towns and villages:The largest localities are:-Adjacent municipalities and counties:* San Fernando Municipality - south...
, since the criminal groups hijacked the units of public transport and made dozens of roadblocks to prevent the mobilization of the soldiers, marines, and federal police forces. The street confrontations generated a wave of panic among the population and caused the publication and broadcast of messages through social networks like Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, reporting the clashes between authorities and criminals. When the Mexican authorities reached the spot where Tony Tormenta was present, the criminals received the soldiers and cops with grenades and high-calibre shots. Reports mention that Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén was being protected by the Los Escorpiones, or The Scorpions, the alleged armed wing of the Gulf Cartel and the personal army of Ezekiel, who were serving as snipers and bodyguards for him. And even after the drug lord was killed, the roadblocks continued throughout the rest of the day.
Nevertheless, according to local newspapers, well over 50 gunmen died in the military operation. Although not confirmed, some online sources and witnesses claim that more than 100 people died that day in Matamoros. The death of Tony Tormenta also caused a spiral of violence in Reynosa, Tamaulipas a number of days after he was killed. Banners written by Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, the Gulf Cartel's former armed wing, appeared all across Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, celebrating the death of Cárdenas Guillén. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
president, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, called the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
, congratulating him and the Mexican forces for the operative in Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, and reiterated his effort against organized crime.
After this incident, there was a huge division of opinions over the fate of the Gulf Cartel. Some experts believed that the death of Ezekiel would be dreadful for the Gulf Cartel, and that Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
would overthrow them and eventually take control of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
. Others explained how his death allowed Costilla Sánchez to take full directive of the cartel, and that that would tighten relations with Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and straighten the Gulf Cartel’s path, something quite difficult with Ezekiel as co-leader.
Los Escorpiones
Los Escorpiones, also called Grupo Escorpios, (The Scorpions), was believed to be the mercenary group that protected Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guilén, the former leader of the organization. According to reports by the Mexican government, Los Escorpiones was created by Tony Tormenta and is composed of both civilians, former police officers, and ex-military officials. After the rupture between the Gulf Cartel and Los ZetasLos Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
(which until then had served as the cartel's armed wing), Los Escorpiones became the armed wing of the entire Gulf organization.
However, his brother Osiel Cárdenas Guillén disapproved the existence of this mercenary group, since he had created Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, the parallel version of Los Escorpiones, and they had turned against the organization. El Universal
El Universal (Mexico City)
El Universal is a major Mexican newspaper.El Universal was founded by Félix Palavicini and Emilio Rabasa in October 1916, in the city of Santiago de Queretaro to cover the end of the Mexican Revolution and the creation of the new Mexican Constitution...
reported that Mexican authorities identified the gunmen that where engaging in confrontations the troops in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
as members of the Los Escorpiones group. Along with Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, the following members of Los Escorpiones were killed: Sergio Antonio Fuentes, alias El Tyson or Escorpión 1; Raúl Marmolejo Gómez, alias Escorpión 18; Hugo Lira, alias Escorpión 26; and Refugio Adalberto Vargas Cortes, alias Escorpión 42.
Metros and Rojos
StratforStratfor
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company...
specialists have mentioned that the strong military presence in Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
, along with the death of Samuel Flores Borrego, alias El Metro 3, and the apprehension of Rafael Cárdenas Vela, alias El Junior, has created tension and conflict within the Gulf Cartel, which is on the verge of a rupture. The two groups within the cartel—the Metros, commanded by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, and the Rojos, who maintain loyalty to the Cárdenas family
Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
—are believed to be fighting for the full mandate of the criminal organization. After the death of Antonio Cárdenas Guillén in 2010, these two groups have been looking for leaders to fill in that void.
If a rupture occurs, experts mention that there may be an increasing mobilization from Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
to take control of the drug corridors of Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
and Reynosa
Reynosa
Reynosa is a border city in the northern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from McAllen, Texas in the United States. As of 2010, the city of Reynosa counts with a population of 607,532...
, the two most important strongholds for the Gulf Cartel. In addition, it may also allow for the Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
to move into northeastern Tamaulipas.
Present-day
For years, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Gulf Cartel, with its armed wing Los ZetasLos Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
, was the most dangerous and powerful drug cartel in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, second only by the Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
. However, the rupture with Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
complicated the Gulf Cartel’s supremacy in the country. They lost significant territory both inside and outside of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
, and the only definite territory that the Gulf Cartel possesses and that is not under dispute are the ‘plazas’ of Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
and Reynosa
Reynosa
Reynosa is a border city in the northern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from McAllen, Texas in the United States. As of 2010, the city of Reynosa counts with a population of 607,532...
. However, they are slowly gaining ground in Tamaulipas, as the government focuses more on eradicating Los Zetas, resulting in Gulf Cartel taking advantage of the juncture to push the ‘Zeta’ forces to other states. The major cities of Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
, Tampico
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
, and Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
are currently under dispute. Smaller cities like Rio Bravo
Río Bravo, Tamaulipas
Río Bravo formally Ciudad Río Bravo is a city in northern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is the municipal seat of Río Bravo Municipality. The city lies east of Reynosa and just south of the Río Bravo del Norte and was also named after it. Directly across the U.S.-Mexico border lies...
, Miguel Alemán
Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas
Ciudad Miguel Alemán, known prior to 1950 as San Pedro de Roma, is a city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, located across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of Roma, Texas. The two are linked by the Roma – Ciudad Miguel Alemán International Bridge, a suspension bridge. As of 2010, the population...
, and Valle Hermoso
Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas
Valle Hermoso is a city in Valle Hermoso Municipality in the northeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality, which is bordered by the municipalities of Matamoros and Río Bravo...
hold strongholds of both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Cities like Ciudad Victoria
Ciudad Victoria
Ciudad Victoria , is the capital city of the Mexican state ofTamaulipas. It is located in the western-central region of the state. Ciudad Victoria is also the municipal seat of the surrounding Victoria Municipality, which covers an area of 1,638 km²...
, Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
, Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Soto La Marina
Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas
Soto la Marina is a town in Soto la Marina Municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It was directly hit by Hurricane Alex in 2010.-External links:* Official website...
, and San Fernando
San Fernando, Tamaulipas
San Fernando is a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.-Massacres:San Fernando, Tamaulipas is notorious for experiencing two of the largest recorded massacres of the Mexican Drug War...
, are considered ‘Zetas’ territory, in its majority. In addition, the states of San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
, Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, and Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
, although they have Gulf Cartel presence, are also considered ‘Zeta’ territory.
Alliances
In 2003, the arrest of several high-profile cartel leaders, including the heads of the Tijuana CartelTijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
and Gulf Cartel, Benjamín Arellano Félix
Benjamín Arellano Félix
Benjamín Arellano Félix is a Mexican drug trafficker and former leader of the Mexican criminal organization known as the Tijuana drug Cartel or 'Arellano-Félix Organization'.- Biography :...
and Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel . Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he was born, he entered the Gulf Cartel by helping Juan García Abrego, the capo at the time; when García was arrested in 1995, some infighting erupted within...
, turned the war on drugs into a trilateral war. While in prison, Cárdenas and Arellano Félix formed an alliance to defend themselves from the Sinaloa
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
and Juarez Cartel
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
, who had also formed an alliance with each other, and were planning to take over the smuggling routes and territories of the Gulf and Tijuana Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
. After a dispute, however, Osiel Cardenas ordered Benjamin Arellano Felix beaten, and the Gulf-Tijuana alliance ceased to exist at that point. It was reported that after the fallout, Cárdenas ordered Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
to Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
to wipe out the Tijuana Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
.
The Sinaloa-Juarez alliance ceased to exist as well due to an unpaid debt in 2007, and now the Sinaloa and Juarez Cartel are at war against each other. Since February 2010, the major cartels have aligned in two factions, one integrated by the Juárez Cartel
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
, Tijuana Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
, Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
and the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel; the other faction integrated by the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
, La Familia Cartel (now extinct) and the Knights Templar Cartel.
Structure
The rupture from Los ZetasLos Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
left Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez and Antonio Ezekiel Cárdenas Guillén in full control of the Gulf Cartel. However, Ezekiel died in a shooting with the Mexican Marines in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
in 2010, and Costilla Sanchez became the sole head of the cartel. Mario Cárdenas Guillén
Mario Cárdenas Guillén
Mario Alberto Cárdenas Guillén is believed to be a top liutenant of the Mexican criminal group called the Gulf Cartel.-Biography:...
, brother of both Osiel and Ezekiel, became one of the top lieutenants in the organization after his release from prison in 2007. In addition, within the Gulf Cartel there is believed to be two groups—the Rojos and the Metros.
Below is basic structure of any drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
:
- Falcons (Halcones): Considered the “eyes and ears” of the streets, the 'falcons' are the lowest rank position in any drug cartel. They are responsible for supervising and reporting on the activities of the Mexican military and of their rival groups.
- Hitmen (Sicarios): They are the armed group within the drug cartel; they are responsible for carrying out assassinations, kidnappings, thefts, extortions, operating protection rackets, and defending their 'plaza' from the rival groups and the military.
- Lieutenants (Lugartenientes): The second highest position in the drug cartel organization; they are responsible for supervising the sicarios and halcones within their own territory. They are allowed to carry low-profile executions without permission from their bosses.
- Drug lords (Capos): This is the highest position in any drug cartel; they are responsible supervising the entire drug industry, appointing territorial leaders, making alliances, and planning high-profile executions.
It's worth noting that there are other operating groups within the drug cartels. For example, the drug producers and suppliers, although not considered in the basic structure, are critical operators of any drug cartel, along with the financers and money launderers. In addition, the arms suppliers operate in a completely different circle, and are technically not considered part of the cartel’s logistics.
Transportation
According to the book "Drug Wars: Narco Warfare in the 21st Century" by Gary Fleming, there are many ways in which drugs enter the United States. Due to the Gulf Cartel's large amount of territory, the cartels utilize every way possible to get drugs into the United States. One avenue that they have implemented is to construct tunnels to get their product across the border. By constructing a tunnel, the cartel is able to get their product across the border with minimal to no detection. The advantages of having a tunnel are tremendous, not only can they charge for smuggling illegal aliens but they can also use this for human trafficking as carriers for cartels. Each human can carry up to half a million dollars worth of drugs.Another venture the cartels utilize are the many bus routes across the United States. With each instance of human trafficking, they can have people carry the product with them on a bus and deliver it to its destination. Main hubs for these bus routes include but are not limited to Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and Dallas. The buses are a vital asset to the cartels because they often go without detection from devices or X-ray machines. The major highways accessed are I35 and I25 which are central highways for the drug trade. The cartel also implements the use of the train system to ship large quantities of illegal drugs.
Apart from using these common ways, once the product is across the border, common cars and trucks are utilized for faster distribution in different cities. In an effort to use the seas, the cartel also implemented the use of narco submarine
Narco submarine
A narco-submarine is a type of custom-made ocean-going self-propelled submersible vessel built by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs. They are especially known to be used by Colombian drug cartel members to export cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, which is often then transported overland to the...
s.
Indictments
On July 21, 2009, the United States DEADrug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
announced coordinated actions against the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas
Los Zetas
Los Zetas is the second most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the most violent drug cartel and paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico...
drug trafficking organizations. Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillen
Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillen
Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén , nicknamed Tony Tormenta, was a Mexican drug lord and co-leader of the criminal organization known as the Gulf Cartel...
, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, is a Mexican drug trafficker who heads the Mexican drug cartel known as Los Zetas.-Biography:...
and 15 of their top lieutenants, have been charged in U.S. federal courts with drug trafficking-related crimes, while the U.S. State Department announced rewards totaling $50 million USD for information leading to their capture.
See also
- War on DrugsWar on DrugsThe War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
- Mérida InitiativeMérida InitiativeThe Mérida Initiative is a security cooperation agreement between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering...
- Operation SolareOperation SolareOperation Solare is the Italian name for an anti-drugs operation involving the U.S.A., Mexico, Guatemala and Italy, involving a major Mexican drug cartel, the Gulf Cartel and the 'Ndrangheta mafia from the Calabria region of Italy. In the operation, some 200 people were arrested in Italy and in...
- Mexican Drug WarMexican Drug WarThe Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
- Narcotrafficking in Colombia
- Timeline of the Mexican Drug WarTimeline of the Mexican Drug WarThe timeline of the most relevant events in the Mexican Drug War is set out below. Although violence between drug cartels had been occurring for three decades, the Mexican government held a generally passive stance regarding cartel violence through the 1980s and early 2000s...